Broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

Broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus which receives and is tunable to different broadcast signals, assigns a priority to each as a function of the amount of time to which that broadcast signal had been previously tuned, selects a broadcast signal according to its priority, and tunes to the selected broadcast signal.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/219,470,filed Mar. 29, 1994, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/011,422, filed Jan. 29, 1993, which issued asU.S. Pat. No. 5,323,240 on Jun. 21, 1994.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to broadcast signal channel selectingapparatus and, more particularly, to apparatus for selecting a broadcastsignal in accordance with a priority of each of the broadcast signalsdetermined by previous selections of the broadcast signals.

As is known, television receivers receive broadcast signals via antennaor cable that have been transmitted by a broadcast station and employ achannel selecting device to select one of the received signals forviewing by a user. The channel selecting device includes a tuner whichis "tuned" to one of the carrier frequencies received by the televisionreceiver, discriminates that carrier frequency from the other carrierfrequencies, and supplies the broadcast signal contained within thatcarrier frequency to the television monitor for viewing. A tunercontroller is operative to control the tuner by supplying controlsignals which indicate which broadcast signal is to be selected by thetuner.

One known tuner controller is of the type which has a number ofpush-buttons which are depressed by a television viewer to select thebroadcast signal to be displayed on the television monitor. One suchpush-button is depressed to "step-up" the channel selection, supplying apulse train to the tuner causing the tuner to tune to the next highercarrier frequency from the carrier frequency to which it currently istuned. That is, the up-channel push-button is depressed to increase thechannel number by one. Similarly, a down-channel push-button isdepressed to "step-down" the selection of the tuner by tuning to thenext lower carrier frequency from the carrier frequency to which thetuner currently is tuned. An advantage to having two push-buttons, oneto initiate "step-up", the other to initiate "step-down", is that anyreceived carrier frequency (i.e. channel) may be selected by using onlythese two push-buttons.

One disadvantage with a television receiver employing theabove-described push-buttons is that a user must often "cycle" throughchannels which are not desired to be viewed before selecting theultimate channel when changing channels by means of one of these twopush-buttons. Since it is common for a viewer to watch the sametelevision program at a specific time and day, thereby selecting thesame channel (e.g. channel 4) at the same time and day of each week(e.g. 8:00 p.m. on Sunday), and it is common for that viewer to watchanother television program on a second channel (e.g. channel 9)immediately after viewing the first program (e.g. 9:00 p.m. on Sunday),the viewer is forced to cycle through undesired channels (e.g. channels5, 6, 7 and 8) when using one of the two above-described push-buttonswhen selecting the second channel.

Another disadvantage with the television receiver employing theabove-described two push-buttons for step-up and step-down, is that thetelevision receiver and the channel selecting device do not assist theviewer in selecting the most commonly viewed channels at a specifiedtime of day of the week and thus, the viewer may need to refer to atelevision program time schedule, commonly known as a television guide,to determine which channel is to be viewed.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide broadcastsignal channel selecting apparatus which overcomes the shortcomings ofthe above-described device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide broadcast signalchannel selecting apparatus which allows a viewer to change the channelto a preferred channel without cycling through channels which are notdesired to be viewed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide broadcast signalchannel selecting apparatus which selects a channel that is commonlyviewed at a particular time and day of the week.

Various other objects, advantages and features of the present inventionwill become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, andthe novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, broadcastsignal channel selecting apparatus operates to receive broadcastsignals, assign a priority to each of the broadcast signals whichcorresponds to the number of times each of the broadcast signals hadbeen previously selected, select one of the broadcast signals having thenext higher or lower priority and supply the selected broadcast signalas an output (e.g. to a television monitor).

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention,broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus operates to receivebroadcast signals, assign a priority to each broadcast signal for eachtime period (e.g. time period of day of week) which corresponds to thenumber of times that broadcast signal had been previously selectedduring that time period, select the broadcast signal having the highestpriority for the current time period and supply the selected broadcastsignal as an output.

As one aspect of the present invention, the broadcast signal having thehighest priority for the current time period is automatically selectedat the beginning of the current time period and supplied as an output.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example and notintended to limit the present invention solely thereto, will best beappreciated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals denote like elements and parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a television receiver employing broadcastsignal channel selecting apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control signal generator of thebroadcast signal channel selecting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the channel selection operation of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the routine executed by the control unit ofthe channel selecting apparatus in accordance with another embodiment ofthe channel selection operation of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a televisionreceiver employing broadcast signal channel selecting apparatusaccording to the present invention and is comprised of a televisionsignal antenna 11, a tuner 12, a video channel including a video monitor17, a sound channel including a speaker 21, a channel preset controller25, a channel selecting voltage generator 26 and a control unit 37.

Television broadcast signals transmitted from broadcast stations arereceived by antenna 11 which supplies these signals (SV) to the tuner12. The broadcast signals may also be received via a cable (not shown).The tuner is operable to tune to any one of the frequencies carrying thebroadcast signals (commonly referred to as broadcast channels) and iscontrolled by a control signal CC generated by the channel presetcontroller 25, allowing the tuner to "tune" to any one of a number ofpredetermined television broadcast channels, each channel correspondingto a broadcast frequency received by antenna 11. The signal CC providedby the channel preset controller 25 prevents the tuner 12 from tuning toa frequency which does not carry a broadcast signal.

The tuner is controlled by a signal VCS supplied by the channelselecting voltage generator 26 to select a particular broadcast channel.That is, the tuner 12 tunes to channel 2, for example, when signal VCSis at one value and tunes to channel 4, for example, when signal VCS isat a second value. The tuner supplies the broadcast signal SVI to whichit is tuned to an intermediate frequency amplifier 13 in the videochannel which amplifies the broadcast signal before supplying it to avideo detector 14. The video detector then demodulates the broadcastsignal to produce a video signal VD which is supplied to a videoamplifier 15, a power amplifier 16 and then to the video monitor 17(e.g. cathode ray tube) for viewing.

The intermediate frequency amplifier 13 supplies a sound intermediatefrequency signal SAI, that is separated from the broadcast signal SVIsupplied by the tuner 12, to a sound intermediate frequency amplifier 18of the audio channel. The sound IF signal is amplified and supplied to asound detector 19 which demodulates the sound IF signal to produce anaudio signal AU which is supplied to speaker 21 through an audioamplifier 20.

In accordance with the present invention, the channel selecting voltagegenerator is controlled by control unit 37 which contains an arithmeticprocessing portion 37U, a timer 37T and a calendar 37C. The control unitreceives a signal DVCS from channel selecting voltage generator 26 whichidentifies the broadcast channel being selected; for example, the signalDVCS may be a digital number corresponding to the value of the signalVCS supplied to tuner 12. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,control unit 37 detects the selected channel (e.g. it samples thechannel identifying signal DVCS) at predetermined intervals, forexample, at five minute intervals. The timer 37T and the calendar 37Csupply time and day information, respectively, such that the controlunit associates each specific time and day with the broadcast channelthat is selected during that specific time and day. The control unitcounts the number of times each broadcast channel is selected duringeach predetermined period of a day. In the preferred embodiment of thisinvention, each period corresponds to an exclusive thirty minute timeinterval of each day of a week since television programs and moviestypically have lengths corresponding to multiples of thirty minute timeintervals, for example, lengths of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes.Arithmetic processing portion 37U ascertains the number of times eachbroadcast channel is selected during a thirty minute interval, andsupplies this data (DC) to a selection data memory 38 (e.g. a randomaccess memory).

Control unit 37 establishes the priority of each broadcast channelduring a respective thirty minute time interval based upon the selectiondata DC stored in selection data memory 38, assigning the highestpriority to the broadcast channel having the greatest number of times ofselection during the respective period and assigning lower priorities tobroadcast channels having lesser number of times of selection during therespective period. Since a viewer typically watches the same programseach week, and particular programs usually are broadcast at the sametime period on the same day of each week, the broadcast channel which isassigned the highest priority generally will represent the channel whichthe viewer would prefer to watch at that specific time and day of theweek. In addition, since a viewer's preference may change, it isadvantageous for the control unit to continue to detect the broadcastchannel which is selected during each period and update selection datamemory 38 accordingly. Control unit 37 stores priority information DO ina priority data memory 39 (e.g. a random access memory).

As also shown in FIG. 1, a control signal generator 30, which may be inthe form of a remote control device or manually operated device locatedwithin the channel selecting device (e.g. within the chassis of thetelevision receiver), supplies to a signal receiving portion 35 acontrol signal CR in accordance with the operations performed by theviewer. These operations may include channel selection, modifying thevolume, programming the television receiver, power on/off, etc. Controlsignal CR having a characteristic corresponding to a respectiveoperation, is supplied to a decoder 36 which decodes the control signalCR and supplies the decoded signal DR to control unit 37.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of control signal generator30 which includes push-buttons (or switches) 31U, 31D and 32, anarithmetic processing portion 33 and a signal transmitting portion 34.Typically, a viewer depresses push-button 31U or 31D to step up or stepdown, respectively, the selection of a broadcast channel. Push-buttons32 are utilized by a viewer to perform other functions associated withthe operation of the television receiver, for example, volume control,programming, power on/off, etc. The signals produced by the push-buttonsare supplied to arithmetic processing portion 33 which produces controlsignals SCU, SCD and SX. These control signals are supplied to signaltransmitting portion 34 which, in turn, transmits to the signalreceiving portion 35 (FIG. 1) a control signal CR corresponding to theproduced control signals. For example, control signal SCU is supplied tothe signal transmitting portion 34 when push-button 31U is depressedinitiating the step up channel selection, control signal SCD is suppliedto the signal transmitting portion when push-button 31D is depressedinitiating step down channel selection, and control signals SX aresupplied when one of the push-buttons 32 is depressed.

Returning to FIG. 1, the transmitted control signal CR is decoded bydecoder 36 and applied to control unit 37 which performs the step upchannel selection process and the step down channel selection process.If the user depresses one of push-buttons 32, the control unit suppliescorresponding control signals CX to other portions of the televisionreceiver. When the viewer depresses push-button 31U (FIG. 2), thecontrol unit retrieves the priority data DO, indicating the respectivepriority of all of the broadcast channels, from priority data memory 39corresponding to the current time and day of the week indicated by timer37T and calendar 37C, respectively. From the priority data DO, thecontrol unit identifies a high priority broadcast channel having acarrier frequency higher than the carrier frequency of the currentlyselected broadcast channel (as represented by DVCS). That is, abroadcast channel that is at least sometimes viewed during the currenttime period is identified. Control unit 37 supplies to channel selectingvoltage generator 26 a channel selection signal DCS representing theidentified broadcast channel in order to select the identified channel.The channel selecting voltage generator then supplies to tuner 12 thechannel selecting voltage signal VCS corresponding to the channelselection signal DCS, causing the tuner to tune to the broadcast signalof the selected broadcast channel.

Similarly, the step down channel selection process is initiated when theviewer depresses push-button 31D. Control unit 37 selects a broadcastchannel in a similar manner as the step up channel selection process,except that a high priority broadcast channel having a carrier frequencylower than the carrier frequency of the currently selected broadcastchannel is selected.

In another embodiment of the present invention, broadcast channelshaving a very high priority, e.g. only those channels that are mostoften selected during the current time and day, are selected during thestep up and step down channel selection processes. In accordance with afurther embodiment, broadcast channels having lower priorities may beselected when the viewer depresses push-buttons 31U or 31D, but thesechannels are selected in descending order of priorities such that higherpriority channels are selected before lower priority channels.Consequently, broadcast channels that are never selected or that arerarely selected may be avoided when changing channels.

In another embodiment, the broadcast signal channel selecting apparatusautomatically selects the broadcast channel having the highest priorityfor the current time and day of the week. In this embodiment, theoperation of control unit 37, selection data memory 38, priority datamemory 39, channel selecting voltage generator 26 and tuner 12 areessentially the same as the embodiments described above, except thathere the control unit automatically selects the channel having thehighest priority in a specific time period (e.g. 30 minutes) when thatnew time period begins. For example, the broadcast channel having thehighest priority (e.g., channel 7) for the period of 8:00 p.m. to 8:30p.m. on Sunday, is automatically selected at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. Aviewer still may manually select a channel via control signal generator30 (i.e. remote control unit) and may also disable the automatic channelselecting operation so as to allow uninterrupted viewing of a channelother than this highest priority broadcast channel.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the broadcast channelhaving the highest priority for the particular time period is selectedby control unit 37 when viewing is initiated by the viewer. That is,when the television receiver employing the broadcast signal channelselecting apparatus of the present invention is turned on, the mostpreferred channel (i.e. the channel having the highest priority for thecurrent time period) is automatically selected. This prevents the viewerfrom unnecessarily selecting the automatically selected channel whenviewing is initiated.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the manner in which control unit 37operates to control tuner 12 in accordance with the present invention.At inquiry 51, the control unit determines whether the control signal DRis being supplied to it, that is, whether a viewer operates apush-button on control signal generator 30, and repeats this detectionuntil one of the push-buttons is depressed. Once the control signal DRis supplied, it is determined at inquiry 52 whether the step-up channeloperation is selected. If the viewer had depressed push-button 31U (FIG.2), thereby selecting the step-up operation, inquiry 52 is answered inthe affirmative and the current day of the week and the current time ofday are ascertained by instructions 53 and 54, respectively. Atinstruction 55, the priority data DO which identifies the respectivepriority of all of the broadcast channels corresponding to the timeperiod of the current time and day is retrieved from priority datamemory 39. The control unit then advances to instruction 56 to detectthe broadcast channel selected and received, as by sensing theidentifying signal DVCS mentioned above. At instruction 57, arithmeticprocessing portion 37U of the control unit identifies a high prioritybroadcast channel having a carrier frequency higher than the carrierfrequency of the presently received broadcast channel represented byidentifying signal DVCS and produces a channel selection signal DCS toidentify the above identified high priority broadcast channel. Atinstruction 58, the control unit supplies the channel selection signalDCS to channel selecting voltage generator 26, whereby the correspondingchannel selecting voltage signal VCS is coupled to tuner 12. At thispoint, processing returns to inquiry 51.

If the viewer had depressed push-button 31D to initiate the step-downselection process, the routine performed by the control unit proceedsfrom inquiry 52 to inquiry 59 and then to instruction 60. The currentday of the week and the current time of the day are ascertained byinstructions 60 and 61, respectively, and at instruction 62 the prioritydata DO identifying the respective priority of all of the broadcastchannels corresponding to the time period of the current time and day isretrieved from priority data memory 39. The control unit then advancesto instruction 63 to detect the presently received broadcast channel andat instruction 64, arithmetic processing portion 37U identifies a highpriority broadcast channel having a carrier frequency lower than thecarrier frequency of the presently received broadcast channel. Atinstruction 58, the channel selection signal DCS corresponding to thisbroadcast channel is supplied to channel selecting voltage generator 26whereupon the tuner is tuned thereto.

If the viewer depressed one of push-buttons 32 to control some otherfunction of the television receiver, inquiry 51 is answered in theaffirmative and inquiries 52 and 59 both are answered in the negative.As a result, the routine advances to instruction 62 where one of theother functions (e.g. volume change, programming etc.) is performed. Theroutine then returns to inquiry 51.

In another embodiment of the present instruction, which may also bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3, when push-button 31U is depressed,control unit 37 identifies the broadcast channel (without regard tofrequency) having the next immediately higher priority than the assignedpriority of the broadcast channel to which tuner 12 presently is tunedat instruction 57. The control unit supplies to channel selectingvoltage generator 21 a channel selection signal DCS representing theidentified broadcast channel at instruction 58. As described above, thechannel selecting voltage generator then supplies to tuner 12 thechannel selecting voltage signal VCS corresponding to the channelselection signal DCS, causing the tuner to tune to the broadcast signalof the identified broadcast channel.

Similarly, if the viewer had depressed push-button 31D, control unit 37at instruction 64 identifies a broadcast channel (also, without regardto frequency) having the next lower priority than the assigned priorityof the broadcast channel to which the tuner presently is tuned.

The above-described channel selection routine of control unit 37 inaccordance with the present invention will now be described withreference to the flow chart of FIG. 4. The routine commences withinquiry 70, whereat the control unit determines whether the controlsignal DR is being supplied to it. Once the control signal DR issupplied (i.e. a push-button is depressed), the routine advances toinquiry 71 to determine whether the step-up or step-down channeloperations are selected. If the viewer had depressed push-button 31U or31D, thereby selecting the step-up operation or the step-down operation,respectively, inquiry 71 is answered in the affirmative and the currentday of the week and the current time of day are ascertained byinstructions 72 and 73, respectively. The priority data DO is thenretrieved from priority data memory 39 by instruction 74 and thecurrently selected broadcast channel is identified by instruction 75.Proceeding to inquiry 76, it is determined whether the step-up channeloperation was initiated by the viewer. If the viewer had depressedpush-button 31U, inquiry 76 is answered in the affirmative and atinstruction 77 the arithmetic processing portion 37U identifies thebroadcast channel having the next immediately higher priority than theassigned priority of the currently selected broadcast channel. Channelselection signal DCS is produced to identify the newly identifiedbroadcast channel at instruction 79 and at instruction 80, the controlunit supplies the channel selection signal DCS to channel selectingvoltage generator 26, whereby the corresponding channel selectingvoltage signal VCS is coupled to tuner 12. At this point, the routinereturns to inquiry 70.

If the viewer had depressed push-button 31D to initiate the step-downselection process, the routine performed by the control unit proceedsfrom inquiry 76 to instruction 78, whereby the arithmetic processingportion 37U identifies the broadcast channel having the next immediatelylower priority than the assigned priority of the currently selectedbroadcast channel. Channel selection signal DCS is produced to identifythe new broadcast channel at instruction 79 and the channel selectionsignal DCS is sent out at instruction 80, causing the tuner to tune tothe newly selected broadcast channel.

If the viewer depressed one of push-buttons 32 to control some otherfunction of the television receiver, inquiry 71 is answered in thenegative, advancing the routine to instruction 81 where one of the otherfunctions is performed. The routine then returns to inquiry 70.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described inconjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it will be readilyappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changesand modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. For example, while a television receiver whichreceives broadcast signals is described, the present invention is notlimited to television signals and may be used for selecting other typesof broadcast signals, such as radio.

As another example, although the present discussion is directed toprioritizing channels according to the number of times a particularchannel is selected, the present invention is not limited solely toprioritizing channels based upon this criterion and may prioritizechannels based upon other standards, such as, for example, popularity ofthe programs or viewing styles of other individuals.

Still further, although priorities are established for thirty minuteintervals of time, other time intervals may be easily utilized.

Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted asincluding the embodiments described herein, the alternatives mentionedabove, and all equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. Broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus,comprising:means for receiving a plurality of broadcast signals; meansfor assigning a respective priority to each of said plurality ofbroadcast signals in accordance with a respective amount of previousselection time of said each broadcast signal; selection means operableto select one of said plurality of broadcast signals in accordance withthe priorities assigned to the received broadcast signals; and tuningmeans tunable to the selected broadcast signal for supplying saidselected broadcast signal as an output.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said means for assigning is operable to assign a highestpriority to the one of said broadcast signals whose previous selectiontime is greatest.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said selectionmeans is operable to initially select the one of said broadcast signalshaving the highest assigned priority when said broadcast signal channelselecting apparatus is turned on.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinsaid selection means is operable to automatically select the one of saidbroadcast signals having the highest assigned priority.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein said means for assigning includes detection meansfor detecting at predetermined time intervals the one of said broadcastsignals to which said tuning means is tuned, and priority assigningmeans for assigning a respective priority to each of said broadcastsignals as a function of the number of times said each broadcast signalis detected as said one broadcast signal to which said tuning means istuned.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said priority assigningmeans is operable to assign a highest priority to the one of saidbroadcast signals that is detected the greatest number of times.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said broadcast signals include video andaudio signals, and the output from said tuning means includes a videosignal and an audio signal.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinsaidmeans for assigning includes means for determining days of the week andtime periods in each day, and means for assigning respective prioritiesto each of said broadcast signals for each time period in each day as afunction of said respective amount of previous selection time of therespective broadcast signal during said time period, said selectionmeans is operable to select one of said broadcast signals in accordancewith the priority assigned to each of said broadcast signals for acurrent time period of a current day, and said tuning means iscontrolled to be tuned to the broadcast signal selected for said currenttime period.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said means forassigning assigns the highest priority for each time period to one ofsaid broadcast signals whose selection time is greatest for that timeperiod.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said selection means isfurther operable to automatically select the one of said broadcastsignals having the highest assigned priority for said current timeperiod.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said selection meansautomatically selects the one of said broadcast signals having thehighest assigned priority only at a beginning of said current timeperiod.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said means for assigningincludes detection means for detecting at predetermined time intervalsduring said current time period the one of said broadcast signals towhich said tuning means is tuned, and means for assigning a respectivepriority to each of said broadcast signals as a function of the numberof times said each of said broadcast signals is detected as said one ofsaid broadcast signals to which said tuning means is tuned during saidcurrent time period.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the meansfor assigning is operable to assign a highest priority for each timeperiod to the one of said broadcast signals that is detected thegreatest number of times during that time period.